Rockstar Games to receive 'wholly deserved' BAFTA fellowship

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced plans to award a fellowship to Rockstar Games for its contributions in bringing video games to the mainstream, and more specifically, for its wildly successful, critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto franchise.

"It is hugely exciting to be able to recognize the amazing contribution made by Rockstar to the games industry over the past 16 years," stated Harvey Elliott, chair of the BAFTA Games Committee. "The creativity and passion exhibited by the Rockstar teams have inspired a generation of game developers to raise the bar in every aspect of game development. From design and mechanics, through to storytelling, cinematics and audio immersion, and in the process creating games that compete so profoundly on a global stage across all entertainment media."

"We have long believed in the potential for videogames to become a new form of cultural expression and worked to show that in our games, so for us accepting the BAFTA Fellowship is incredibly humbling," said Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser, who now joins Shigeru Miyamoto and Will Wright on the short list of gaming industry figures to receive BAFTA fellowships.

The British Academy Games Awards is scheduled to take place on March 12 in London. Those interested in attending can purchase tickets from BAFTA, while the rest of us will have to settle for streaming the show on Twitch.